According to the experts at Flyhomes, a vast majority of Americans experience a far less fairytale experience than they expected when on the quest of purchasing their dream homes. Flyhomes conducted a survey of 1,000 Americans to discover some of their top regrets amid the homebuying experience.
The survey results revealed that more than half of those homebuyers surveyed (56% exactly) admitted to having to make some real compromises that varied (some greatly) from their initial, ideal must-have lists for their home. Among these responders, one-third admitted that the house they finally did end up buying did not match up with their initial criteria at all.
Reality versus expectation proved disappointing, clearly, and apart from disappointment in the final house itself, respondents also voiced how stressful the entire home purchasing process was overall. In fact, a majority of those responding (58%) admitted that the stress level was much higher than they had expected, catching many of them off guard.
Also unexpected? The price tags. Among those respondents who were first time homebuyers, 40% mentioned that the final cost of their new abode was far higher than they initially had in mind. Among those respondents who paid this much higher than expected price tag, they revealed that the final difference in cost was their shelling out an average of $20,000 more than previously planned when all was said and done. Worse than that, 14% of respondents reported spending even more, claiming that they spent more than $50,000 over their initial budgets.
Besides the unexpected (and unwelcome) surprises along the way, survey respondents also revealed their biggest regrets from the homebuying journey, with nearly 25% of all respondents admitting they did indeed have numerous ones. Among those regrets most mentioned included the aforementioned overpaying on final price tag; purchasing a home that required far too many (and often expensive) repairs; sky-high tax prices accompanying the property; smaller size property (including less rooms) than they’d hoped for; too much maintenance and upkeep required; and less than ideal location.
Flyhomes followed the results of the survey with a helpful list of tips and further advice on how to avoid these regrets next time.